


How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

by PalmettoFoxDen



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 16:18:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12461388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PalmettoFoxDen/pseuds/PalmettoFoxDen
Summary: Blue Sargent is a writer at a magazine and she's sick of writing articles about shoes and makeup and boys. She wants to write articles about issues that really matter. When she tells this to her boss, her boss makes a deal with her that she can write about whatever wants if she writes an article on how to lose a guy in ten days first. She does not want to write the article, but she decides it is worth the creative liberties writing it will allow her afterwards, so she sets out with her best friend Adam to find someone truly terrible to date and convince to drop her in ten days or under.Richard Gansey is worried about his best friend who has an overwhelmingly cynical view of nearly everyone. Gansey's been trying to convince Ronan to let someone else in or at least give someone a chance, but Ronan has no interest in dating. Ronan and Gansey make a deal that if Gansey can date a girl for ten days and not be totally miserable or end the relationship, then Ronan will go on one date. Gansey thinks this is the perfect deal since Blue is interesting and all he has to do is last ten days with her to convince Ronan to give dating a chance.





	How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

“I take it you don’t like your assignment?” Adam asked when Blue stormed over to his desk. “What did she give you? Ten ways to curl your hair so every guy in a ten-mile radius loses his mind? Did she ask you to write about your secret yogurt diet that makes you lose height instead of weight? Oh, I know. How to choose the perfect lip gloss so your dream guy physically cannot resist kissing you.”

Blue glared daggers at him. She was not in the mood for this right now.

“Worse,” she said.

“Worse?” Adam repeated. “What’s worse?”

“I told her I wanted to write an article about something that actually matters to someone, not about which shoes will make a guy like you or about how to lose a guy in ten days,” Blue responded.

“And I am guessing that did not go well,” Adam predicted.

“Wow, your horoscopes must be accurate. I can’t believe you haven’t put my mother out of business with predictions like that,” Blue said sarcastically. She knew she was just irritable because of her assignment and that she was lashing out at Adam, who hated what he was forced to write about just as much as she hated her own assignment, but knowing that didn’t stop her from continuing to do it. “What could have possibly tipped you off?”

Adam frowned at her, clearly annoyed, but his voice came out steady as he deadpanned, “I must just be really in touch with the universe.”

If she were in a slightly better mood, she might have laughed. She was too mad at herself and mad at her boss and mad at Adam to laugh now though. Mostly, she was mad at herself for being stupid enough to make that sarcastic suggestion though. She really had trapped herself in this horrible position.

“So, what happened?” Adam asked after a pause long enough that he must have realized she wasn’t going to laugh or answer him.

“She completely missed the point and thought that was a perfect idea,” Blue responded.

“What was?” Adam asked. The skin between his eyebrows crinkled a little in confusion.

“How to lose a guy in ten days,” Blue said. Her words came out sounding as defeated as she felt.

Adam laughed until he noticed the icy glare she was shooting him and abruptly cut himself off.

“Oh. You’re serious,” he said.

“Unfortunately,” Blue lamented. “If I write this horrible article, she says I can write about whatever I want. Not just which handbag is best for carrying all your makeup in or a list of heels that will rub your heel raw and make your feet hurt for days, but will make bastards come drooling after you.”

“To lose a guy wouldn’t you need to have one in the first place?” Adam questioned.

For a moment, Blue had an overwhelming urge to kick Adam in the shin, but she pushed that down and took a deep breath in and then let it back out.

“That’s part of the assignment. I’m supposed to go out tonight and find some poor bastard to lure in and then give him ten days of hell until he gives up on me,” Blue told him. “So unless you’re volunteering for the role, we’re going out tonight.”

“I thought _I_ scared _you_ off,” Adam said in an amused tone. “And I seem to remember it took more than ten days.”

Their failed attempt at dating had been long enough ago that they had made it past the awkward stage and could laugh about it now. That was such a relief after how uncomfortable the first month after their breakup had been. Blue was struck by how much their friendship had recovered since the days of post-breakup walking on eggshells around each other.

“Too bad,” Blue said with a hint of amusement in her tone. “Now we have to go find me someone truly terrible tonight. Where do bastards looking for a date hang out on Friday nights?”

Adam considered for a moment as if this was a pop quiz he wanted to do well on, then said, “A bar?”

“Oh, perfect,” Blue said sarcastically.

* * *

Ronan wanted to laugh at how out of his element Gansey looked in this bar. Gansey was the one who had talked him and Noah into coming here because Henry Cheng had invited them out. Well, Henry Cheng had invited Gansey out and Gansey had invited the rest of them. Ronan wasn’t a fan of Cheng for the simple reason that Cheng kept trying to steal Gansey out from under him.

Ronan had argued with Gansey about it again when he’d found out Gansey was wasting his Friday night at some bar with Cheng instead of hanging out with him and Noah, but Gansey had invited them along and Noah had accepted the invitation like the traitor Ronan hadn’t previously realized he was.

When Ronan had complained about having to share his time with Gansey with Henry on the ride over, Gansey had for the hundred millionth time suggested that Ronan should find someone he could spend his time with when Gansey was busy. Ronan said he had Noah but, of course, Gansey had gone on one of his ‘I’m worried about you, Ronan, I really think you should give somebody a chance and you might like dating if you ever gave someone a chance’ speech.

What Gansey didn’t know was that Ronan _had_ tried dating someone before. It had not gone well and he did not care to repeat the experience. He had tried to make his thing with Kavinsky about more than sex and that had been a colossal error in judgment. He was not interested in repeating his mistake and he was sick of Gansey acting like just because Ronan wasn’t Mr. Social like Gansey, he had some tattoo across his forehead that was only visible to Gansey and said ‘desperate and lonely’ in big bold letters.

Besides, Ronan didn’t see what his being single had to do with Gansey’s so-called friendship with Henry. Gansey was either a hypocrite, single himself and trying to scold Ronan for not seeing anyone, or he was interested in Henry. Somehow, Ronan thought the second option would be worse. He was sure Gansey must have better taste than that, but he had come along anyways to make sure he was right and to try to make Henry back the fuck off from his best friend.

So now he was stuck at a table with Henry fucking Cheng while Gansey stared at a girl with spiky hair who leaned against the bar, looking about as thrilled to be there as Ronan felt.

At least Gansey wasn’t interested in Henry then.

* * *

Blue stood by the bar with her overpriced soda in her hand and surveyed her surroundings with a disapproving frown. She couldn’t believe she was wasting her own money in this place to try to find some poor guy to fool into falling for her, just so she could break his heart. This was a terrible idea, but this was also one terrible article in exchange for a career of freedom to write whatever she wanted and that trumped a lifetime of writing how to articles that made her feel like her eyes were going to bleed.

“You see anyone you like?” Adam asked as he stared down at his over-priced beer. He had yet to take a sip. Clearly, he was looking to make it last as long as possible. Blue couldn’t blame him for not wanting to shell out the money for another.

“Isn’t the whole point of this to find someone I _don’t_ like?” Blue challenged. “Someone whose heart I can crush without a second thought?”

“Right,” Adam said as he lifted his eyes from his drink to glance around the room again. “Then of all the pretentious pricks here, which looks like the biggest bastard?”

Blue considered for a moment as she looked around the bar and then her eyes landed on a table of men she wouldn’t be caught dead talking to of her own volition. If she robbed them and sold their clothes, she could probably make enough money to pay her rent for a few years. One of them was watching her and she had to resist the urge to glare back at him until he would back down.

“There’s a whole table of them,” she said as she jerked her chin in the direction of the table the four men sat at.

She turned to check if Adam had found the table she was talking about and smirked a little when she saw that he looked as unimpressed with the men as she felt.

“Ken Doll looks interested in you,” Adam noted.

Blue turned her attention back on the table and watched them for a moment longer. They looked like the kind of table she would have hated to have in her section back in her days as a waitress. They were a loud group and she was certain they were the type to leave a mess and leave their chairs blocking the aisles without a second thought. Bastards.

“I think I could break up with him without any remorse,” Blue said.

“The hard part is going to be putting up with him for ten days,” Adam agreed. “Christ, I feel sorry for you.”

“I’d be mad at you if you didn’t,” Blue insisted. She was only joking a little.

* * *

Gansey was trying to determine if the girl by the bar and her friend were watching him or if he was imagining things when he was rudely interrupted by Ronan.

“How much longer until we can leave?” Ronan asked bluntly.

Gansey looked away from the bar and shot Ronan a disapproving look. Was it really the end of the world for Ronan to have to coexist with Henry for one night? Noah might be acting quieter than usual around Henry, but at least he wasn’t scowling and picking any opportunity to be rude to Henry like Ronan was.

“You could have stayed home,” Gansey reminded Ronan. “No one made you come here tonight.”

Ronan glared at Gansey as if he thought Gansey had somehow forced him to be here, which was ridiculous. No one could make Ronan Lynch do anything he didn’t want to do. Gansey knew that much. He had tried to convince Ronan of too many things, like speaking to his older brother once every blue moon, only to make Ronan angrier and even more stubborn to know that it was impossible to force Ronan’s hand unless there was something very clearly in it for him. Gansey had invited him, but Ronan was the one who had accepted the invitation and done nothing but complained and been rude since.

“If you find our company so unbearable, you’re welcome to go find someone more interesting to talk to,” Gansey suggested. “Who knows, you might actually like someone if you gave them a chance.”

Ronan’s furious look might have scared someone else, but Gansey had been friends with Ronan Lynch for a long time and he knew the only person Ronan was a threat to was himself.

Gansey expected Ronan to give his usual speech about how he didn’t like people but instead, Ronan sat perfectly still for a long moment and then a sinister smirk formed on his lips and Gansey knew trouble was coming his way.

“If you’re so worried about me dying along, then why don’t you go talk to that girl you’ve been staring at all night?” Ronan questioned in a tone that Gansey knew was supposed to come off as innocent, but sounded anything but to Gansey’s ears.

Gansey could feel his cheeks turning pink and he hated that he was giving Ronan the satisfaction of being proven right as he weakly argued, “I have not been staring at her.”

“Yes you have,” Noah said.

It was one hell of a time for Noah to find his voice again. Gansey was really starting to regret inviting him and Ronan.

Gansey shrugged his nerves and embarrassment off as nothing and put on his best casual tone as he said, “It doesn’t matter. She’s already here with someone.”

“I’ll go talk to her,” Henry volunteered eagerly. “I can be your wingman and scope out the situation. See if she’s dating that guy or not.”

Gansey’s heart felt like a hummingbird trying to escape his ribcage, but he struggled to maintain his composure as he responded, “No thank you.”

His false calm seemed to have fooled Henry, but not Ronan or Noah. At least Noah had the decency to just eye him a little suspiciously. Ronan had the nerve to shoot him a shit-eating grin that said he and Gansey both knew Gansey was anything but calm at the moment.

“Yeah, Dick,” Ronan said in a tone that was clearly meant to mock Henry’s enthusiasm, although Henry either didn’t notice or didn’t mind. “Why don’t you let Cheng be your wingman? Maybe if I see you go talk to someone you’re interested in, I’ll follow your example.”

They both knew odds of that were exceptionally low and yet Gansey tried, “I’ll talk to her if you find someone to talk to.”

Ronan pretended to consider for a moment, then said, “No deal.”

“So then what deal would you take?” Gansey questioned. He knew he stood a slightly better chance if he gave Ronan control over what their deal would be, but he also knew giving Ronan that much control over the situation could be a dangerous game.

Ronan considered for a moment and this time Gansey could tell he was really thinking. That was enough progress that Gansey’s heart leapt at the possibility that just _maybe_ he could convince Ronan yet.

“You really want to play this game?” Ronan asked.

Gansey was fairly certain he did not, but he nodded his head because whatever deal Ronan offered would be worth it if he could convince Ronan to let someone else in. Gansey would agree to almost anything if it meant Ronan would give somebody else a chance and he would end up happy.

“What’s the deal?” Gansey asked.

“You let Cheng play wingman with that teeny tiny girl you’re so afraid to talk to, manage to last ten days in a relationship with her, and tell me you’re honestly happy. Then, I’ll go on _one_ date,” Ronan told him. “That’s my offer. Take it or leave it.”

Gansey had a feeling he should be insulted by Ronan’s lowball estimate that he wouldn’t be able to last ten days in a relationship without being miserable, but maybe that was Ronan’s personal cynicism at play. Besides, Gansey was having a hard time feeling properly offended when he was thrilled that this was a deal he could win.

The girl by the bar had caught his eye with her unusual outfit and the way she looked as uncomfortable in this bar as he felt. He wouldn’t have spoken to her normally, but he thought he might enjoy getting to know a little more about her and what she was doing in this bar when she so clearly wasn’t enjoying herself.

Gansey just hoped that she was single. If she was, then he could kill two bird with one stone and get to know an interesting girl and get Ronan to give someone a chance all in one. He knew Ronan would keep his end of the deal if he succeeded at fulfilling his end of the bargain. Ronan valued the truth far too much to lie to Gansey’s face.

Gansey pretended to be much more confident than he was as he agreed, “Fine. Cheng can be my wingman.”

* * *

Blue was debating how to approach the rich guy when one of his friends got up from the table and headed straight towards her. Ken Doll leaned forwards in his seat to watch as his friend stopped right in front of her and Adam.

“Hi!” he said with a grand grin. “I’m Henry Cheng and my friend Gansey over there-” he paused for a moment to gesture behind himself at the table he had just come from and waved. When none of the other men waved back he called out, “Gansey, wave!”

Ken Doll’s face went beet red and he did not wave. His friend with the close-shaved head laughed and his other friend offered her a small wave.

Henry turned his attention back to Blue as he insisted, “He’s not the one that waved. That’s Noah. Gansey’s the one whose face currently resembles a ripe tomato. Anyways, my friend Gansey would like to know if you are single.”

Blue could not believe that this Gansey was too good to walk over and talk to her himself and had sent another rich guy over to fetch her instead. She felt insulted and offended by their juvenility. She could feel her ears getting hot. She didn’t think she could do this. Gansey was the exact opposite of her type. If you looked up Blue Sargent’s type, you would find Gansey listed as an antonym.

“She is,” Adam supplied for her, seeming to sense that she was too angry to speak at the moment without blowing up in Henry Cheng’s face.

“Great,” Henry said in an excited tone as if Blue being single had any correlation with her being interested in his friend. “Then why don’t you come join us? Oh, and your friend can come too. Of course.”

Blue and Adam didn’t even have the chance to respond to Henry’s invitation before he had taken off, back in the direction of the table he had come from as if he was sure this was an offer they couldn’t refuse. Blue bit her tongue to keep herself from calling after him in annoyance. It was just like a stupid rich guy to think he and his friends were so special and she and Adam should feel honoured to be invited to their table.

Blue was breathing heavily and Adam shot her a sympathetic look.

He seemed to read her thoughts as he reminded her, “I know. They’re terrible. But this is the perfect opportunity to knock an annoying rich guy who is used to getting whatever he wants the moment he wants it down a peg and if he’s an asshole, you won’t have to feel bad about hurting his feelings. Assuming he even has any.”

Blue was suddenly very glad she had brought Adam, both because he was right and because she did not think she could face this nightmare table without him by her side.

“Well, this is going to be on _hell_ of a night,” Blue joked although her laugh contained no humour.

“I wouldn’t walk into Hell and drink with a table of demons just for anyone, you know,” Adam assured her.

Blue managed a weak smile in his direction and then forced herself to walk towards the table Henry was already waiting for them at.

Gansey and Henry seemed to be having some kind of hushed argument, but Gansey stopped talking and froze the instant he saw them approaching.

“See? I told you she was coming over,” Henry said loudly and Gansey’s face went pink again.

Blue wondered if she would have to spend the whole ten days with Henry as a mediator between them.

“Come, have a seat,” Henry said excitedly. There were no empty chairs at their table, but this seemed to escape his notice entirely. “Come meet my friend, Richard Campbell Gansey the Third.”

Blue exchanged a look with Adam without thinking and mouthed, ‘The Third.’ No one who wasn’t completely and utterly pretentious required a number in their name.

“Gansey, this is-” Henry continued his introduction with a grand gesture to Blue and then froze when it came time to introduce Blue and he realized that he had been too rude to ask for either of their names.

“Blue,” she filled in for him.

The table erupted into laughter and Blue crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at the lot of them. She did not want to sit at this table of nasty men.

“No really,” Gansey said, seeming to find his voice now that the ice had been broken with her joke of a name. “What’s your name?”

She scowled at him.

“Really,” she said. “My name’s Blue.”

“Oh.” He said. “I’ve never heard of that name before.”

At least he had the decency to look embarrassed, but Blue decided she still did not like him. He was rude, even if his friend with the shaved head who had yet to stop laughing was competing for the role of the worst of the worst.

“Clearly,” Blue said. Her voice sounded cold to her ears and she knew this was not the way to win him over for an ill-fated romance.

“I’m sorry, really,” Gansey said and then he shot a glare over at his grinning friend who seemed to find this entire situation impossibly hilarious. Gansey’s politician’s smile was back on display again as he turned back to her and insisted, “That was rude of me. I shouldn’t have laughed.”

She wanted to say ‘You think?’ She wanted to point out that they had invited her and Adam over to the table and still hadn’t made room for them. She wanted to point out that none of them had even bothered to acknowledge Adam’s presence, let alone ask his name.

But she needed Gansey to like her, at least for the time being, so she plastered on the largest smile she could manage, which was admittedly not very large at all, and told him, “That’s okay.”

It was not okay, but he visibly relaxed in relief. She couldn’t believe this rich guy was nervous to be speaking to her. Probably, he was afraid of making a fool of himself in front of his friends and it had nothing to do with her and everything to do with his fragile masculinity.

Gansey finally seemed to notice the chair predicament as Adam grabbed an empty chair for himself from another table and carried it over. The friend with the close-shaved head wouldn’t move to make room for him, so Adam shot him a glare and huffed to himself as he carried his chair around Henry in the small space between Henry and where Blue was standing.

“Ronan, would it kill you to make room?” Gansey asked in an exasperated tone.

Ronan’s lip twitched back up into a smirk as he responded, “You never know, Dick. It might. What if I went to move to make room and my chair tipped over and I smashed my skull in?”

“The world would mourn,” Adam murmured sarcastically under his breath.

Blue resisted the urge to laugh. Adam could get away with those comments because he wasn’t looking to impress any of them. Unfortunately, Blue could not be so brutally obvious about how she felt about them.

Ronan completely ignored Adam’s comment and remained focused on Gansey as he insisted, “You’d be sorry then, wouldn’t you?”

“Oh, terribly,” Gansey agreed in a dry tone.

Henry shifted his chair closer to Ronan’s to make more room for Adam and Gansey slid his chair closer to Noah’s and then rose to grab a chair for Blue from the next table over.

She was relieved to at least have Adam at her side as she sat down in the chair Gansey provided and murmured a soft, “Thank you.”

Blue set her half-drank soda down on the table as Adam took a long chug from his beer. Apparently, he had decided he was too sober to sit at a table with this many pretentious douchebags. Blue couldn’t blame him.

“This is Adam, by the way,” Blue said. She couldn’t keep the edge from her tone as she added, “Since none of you could be bothered to ask.”

Henry did not seem at all apologetic for cutting Adam out of the introductions as he talked past Adam without acknowledging his existence and told Gansey, “Blue’s single and interested.”

Blue let out a scoff and felt five sets of eyes turn on her. She quickly composed her features and tried to sound more playful than annoyed, a difficult task, as she asked, “When did I say I was interested?”

“You came over here, didn’t you?” Henry asked with a wide grin.

“I guess you’re right,” she said with what she hoped came off as a sheepish smile.

Blue hated that he had her there. She did not like Henry Cheng and Ronan was unbearable. Richard Campbell Gansey the Third was fairly irritating himself. Noah was the only one at the table besides Adam that she didn’t utterly hate and that was only because he had yet to speak in her presence, although he had giggled at her name so she did not care for him much more than the others.

Most of all, she hated herself though. She hated the person she was pretending to be as she smiled and looked pretty and tried to keep herself composed because it was how these men would want her to behave. She was sure Adam would have a good laugh at her expense later over how she was playing nice with them.

Gansey seemed to catch a sudden surge of confidence at this reveal that she was supposedly interested and he turned full-body in his chair to face her. “So, Blue, I want to know more about you. What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a writer,” Blue said because it was the way to explain her job that least made her want to scream.

Blue did not particularly want to talk about herself and disclose any information to these strangers. She did not want them to know anything about her and she did not want to put up with their judgment, but she supposed it might be better than listening to Gansey brag about himself. He’d probably give her a whole resume of his accomplishments and family connections. She was not interested.

“Really?” Gansey asked. He propped one elbow on the table, rested his chin in his hand, and leaned closer to her. “What do you write?” 

Blue resisted the urge to lean away from him as Gansey smiled at her. This smile looked a little more genuine than his previous one and Blue thought it was a waste of interest and a smile.

“Magazine articles,” she responded and she could feel heat rise up in her cheeks. She was sure they were all internally laughing at her for writing such lowbrow material. She was surprised they weren’t laughing externally about it too.

“That’s fascinating,” Gansey said and by some cruel joke, he seemed to be genuinely interested. Or maybe he was just particularly practiced at feigning interest in anything a pretty girl talked about.

“Oh, yes,” Blue responded sarcastically. “It’s truly riveting stuff writing about how to get the perfect manicure.”

Ronan let out a snort Blue was fairly certain was at her expense and she glared across the table at him.

“I take it you don’t like your job then,” Gansey commented.

Blue wanted to point out that not everyone could be born into a rich family and some people have to take whatever job they could get, but she did not need to start an argument and she did not want to hear him try to justify whatever privileged life he led.

“I like writing,” she responded. “I just don’t like the things my boss makes me write about. I want to write about real issues that actually matter.”

She wasn’t sure why she was revealing this much to Gansey. Maybe, she was just venting her frustrations that still weighed heavily on her mind.

Ronan laughed at her again and said, “Shit, Gansey. She seems more Cheng’s type. Maybe we should get out of here and leave Cheng and Blue to talk. She could write articles about his cause of the week. It’d be perfect.”

Gansey scowled over at Ronan. Apparently, he was not fond of his friend trying to pawn her off on Henry. She wasn’t particularly fond of the idea either.

“Right,” Blue said sarcastically. “Because I’m just an object for you to pass around.”

“That’s not what he meant,” Gansey said in the tone of a scolding parent. “Right, Ronan?”

Ronan raised his hands in a sign of innocence as he said, “I don’t care who she dates as long as it’s not me. I just want to leave. I’ve spent more than enough of my time in this dull company.”

“Nice, Ronan,” Gansey commented sarcastically.

“You never said I had to be nice,” Ronan snarled out.

“It was implied,” Gansey retorted.

“I’ve been informed I don’t take hints well,” Ronan responded with a smug smirk.

Blue definitely liked Ronan even less than Gansey, but she hated the way the whole table acted as if Adam was invisible. At least ignoring him was one step better than mocking him, but Blue was inclined to be mad at the lot of them.

“Incredible that basic human decency is something that you need clear instructions for,” Adam commented and Blue was incredibly relieved to have him there to voice the opinions she could not.

“Right,” Ronan said as his eyes flickered over to Adam. “Because you’re the poster-child for manners. You’ve been grumbling since you got here. Excuse me if I feel no need to play nice with people who hate me.”

* * *

Ronan was in a particularly bad mood on the way out of the bar after a whole night wasted. Stupid fucking Cheng was following them to their car like they hadn’t already wasted enough of the night on him and Blue.

At least her friend had been attractive in the kind of way where Ronan would bang him no strings attached, but Ronan knew nothing could ever come of it beyond Adam being something nice to look at. Gansey was all dewy-eyed at Blue and Adam was Blue’s best friend, which meant it could never be sex with no strings attached and Ronan wasn’t looking to blur those lines again anytime soon.

“I think she likes you,” Henry told Gansey and Ronan resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Blue was supposed to be there with a boyfriend, or she was supposed to be boring, or she at least should have been utterly uninterested in Gansey. That way, they could have had this whole deal over with right from the start. She wasn’t supposed to be single and interested in Gansey. She wasn’t supposed to be another person to take up Gansey’s time.

Still, Ronan was sure this would implode before ten days was up. Blue’s friend hated them all and the novelty would wear off for Blue or Gansey or both of them soon. Ronan wasn’t worried about it. Not at all.

“I like her,” Noah commented.

Ronan felt personally betrayed by Noah for the second time that night.

“So do I,” Gansey said and his sheepish smile made Ronan want to punch a wall.

Perfect. Everyone was happy but Ronan. He’d just succeeded at making sure Gansey would be happy without him and would have even less time to spend with him, while he’d be even more miserable.

* * *

“I think you picked the wrong bastard,” Adam commented as they walked from the bar to Blue’s car. “That Ronan guy was a real piece of work. There’s no way he cares about anything or anyone but himself.”

“Could you imagine going on dates with him though?” Blue asked. “I don’t think I could make it through ten days of him. As it is, I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with Richard Campbell Gansey the Third.”

“I didn’t know there were people who still name their kids with hand-me-down rich names,” Adam said. “How rich do you think he is?”

“Disgustingly,” Blue responded. “Did you see his boat shoes?”

“You weren’t a fan?” Adam asked in an amused tone.

“He better not wear those when we go on a date,” Blue insisted.

“What if he takes you shopping for boat shoes on your first date?” Adam questioned.

“Don’t even joke about that,” Blue warned him.

“Fine,” Adam agreed. “But we both know that he’ll take you on some really pretentious date on a yacht or on his family’s private island. Or, maybe, he’ll take you on a yacht to his family’s private island. Rich guys love to rub how much money they have in everyone else’s faces.”

Blue simply groaned in response and Adam let the subject drop for approximately forty-five seconds.

“No kiss goodbye, huh?” Adam asked.

“Shut up,” Blue responded.

“Were you trying to leave him wanting more?” Adam asked. “Or are you just trying to put it off for as long as possible?”

“If this is anything like our relationship, then I’ll go the whole ten days without kissing him,” Blue retorted.

It was a cheap shot and normally Adam would be annoyed, but he knew Blue’s night had been awful so he was silent for a moment and focused on his breathing as he told himself not to pick a fight with Blue just because they were both in bad moods from the men they had spent their evening with. He took a few deep breaths until he felt like he could open his mouth without snapping at her.

“Do you think he’s going to call you?” Adam asked.

“Who knows,” Blue said. There was something strange in her tone, but he wasn’t sure what it was. He turned to look at her, trying to gauge what it was from her expression, but she looked away and when she met his eyes again her face was completely composed. “Do rich bastards usually call?”

“I don’t have a lot of experience in that department,” Adam pointed out. “I think it’s after they sleep with you that they don’t call you. So, unless I missed something while I was in the washroom, I think he’ll call.”

“There’s that to look forward to,” Blue commented as she stopped at the driver’s side door of the car. “Him calling just because he wants to get in my pants.”

“If all else fails and you really need to get rid of him in time, you can just sleep with him and watch him disappear,” Adam joked as he walked around the car.

“You’re not funny,” Blue retorted with an icy glare.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This is my first TRC fanfic and I hope you enjoy the story! Please leave a review and let me know what you think! :)


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